Michigan

Fallon firing just latest chapter in EMU turmoil

Ann Arbor News file photoThe University House was the center of a statewide scandal in 2004 after then-EMU President Samuel Kirkpatrick spend more than $6 million to build it.

John Fallon's exit as president of Eastern Michigan University marks the latest chapter at an institution plagued by conflict and short-term leaders in recent years.

Fallon, whose firing Sunday came two years to the date after his contract went into effect, was EMU's third president over the past seven years.

When Fallon's replacement - interim or permanent - is named, that person will step to the helm of a university now mired in a national controversy over its mishandling of information in a student's rape and murder.

Three years earlier, EMU faced a statewide firestorm when construction of a new president's house went far above budget, prompting a state investigation and the exit of the then-university president.

Howard Bunsis, president of the EMU professors' union, said the next president needs to put academics first in order to succeed at EMU.

"That's that way of success for our university. A total commitment to the classroom," Bunsis said. "I think we just get into too many ancillary issues - things like the house, things like campus beautification ... Just think of all the dollars and effort and meetings. All that energy should have gone into supporting and improving academics. I don't know why we get away from the core issues."

The instability in EMU's top ranks came after William Shelton stepped down as president, having served 11 years in that role. But Shelton's tenure wasn't without contention - he's remembered by many on campus as the leader who changed EMU's named from the Hurons to the Eagles. That move, made because of concerns that Native American names and mascots perpetuated racial stereotypes, still rankles many longtime EMU alumni.

Next came Samuel Kirkpatrick, a name now synonymous with the University House scandal. After his hiring in 2000, Kirkpatrick said he needed a larger university-owned home for fundraising events and gatherings.

By 2004, Kirkpatrick was at the center of criticism over construction of the $6 million house - built on Hewitt Road near Rynearson Stadium - which a state investigation determined cost $2.5 million more than originally announced.

Kirkpatrick resigned in June 2004 with a departure package totaling $514,000. The resignation and buyout - which included a clause preventing regents or Kirkpatrick from criticizing each other - drew intense criticism. He left to take a job as a senior fellow with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C., the same organization he worked for before coming to EMU.

EMU enjoyed a reprieve from controversy during the one-year term of Craig Willis, who served as interim president during the university's national search for a new president.

Willis came as part of a national consulting service that provides interim presidents for universities. He quickly won over faculty, students and staff, who said his tenure helped heal a broken, distrustful campus and moved EMU out of the controversial University House spotlight.

Willis made few new permanent administrative hires, saying he preferred to let the new president choose his cabinet. Over and over, campus members said they hoped the next president would be "Willis-like."

Fallon, 60, began at EMU two years ago, arriving on campus for his first day of work on July 18, 2005, as the school's 21st president.

He came from the State University of New York at Potsdam, where he had served a seven-year tenure as president. Fallon had also worked in top administrative positions at Ball State and Saginaw Valley State universities, including overseeing SVSU's government and community relations.

The honeymoon at EMU lasted not much more than a year. Contract negotiations with EMU's full-time faculty soured last summer, leading to a 12-day strike as classes began.

Faculty members and administrators were publicly critical of each other during the strike and for months to follow during a fact-finding process that finally evolved into a ratified contract last month.

By then, Fallon was embroiled in the scandal over misleading statements made by EMU in the days following the December death of student Laura Dickinson.